Women's faces reflect levels of healthiness

07/06/2012

Perceptions of fatness in women’s faces correlate with their Body Mass Index (BMI), measures of their physical and reproductive health, and measures of their psychological functioning, research published in our British Journal of Psychology has found.

The study, conducted by Rowan Tinlin and her collaborators - led by Ben Jones from the University of Aberdeen, concluded that fatness in the face is an important indicator of health.

Following three studies, BMI was recognised to be a better indicator of fattness in the face than body shape.

They also found that perceived fatness in the face was related to previous health problems and aspects of psychological functioning, such as depression, anxiety and stress. And that it correlated with women’s progesterone levels - a key component in reproductive health.

Researcher Rowan Tinlin said: “These findings suggest that fatness in the face conveys important health information during social interactions, even in women with relatively healthy BMIs”.

Professor Jones added: “Previous work has suggested that typical, or ‘average’, levels of perceived fatness in the face look optimally healthy and attractive. So, although high levels of facial adiposity may well indicate you’re in poor physical shape, that will be true of very low levels too.”

Dr Lisa DeBruine, a co-author on the project, noted that “Research on face perception and health has focused on cues like symmetry and averageness, with mixed results. These new findings suggest that more attention needs to be paid to the study of facial fatness.”

Although the findings present important evidence that perceived fatness in the face is an indicator of actual health, they do not shed any light on the specific facial characteristics that people use to assess fatness in the face.

Rowan Tinlin noted that: “Further research is needed to identify the specific facial indicators that drive perceptions of adiposity and health”.

EU Law is Changing

(so please read this - it's really important)

As part of EU Law, we'd like to get your consent for you to browse the web like you have always done - by using cookies. What are cookies? Cookies allow us to personalise your experience on our site and it's likely that you have always had them on your computer.

Cookie consent

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies from our website. If you want, you can change your cookie settings at any time.